


Visits

by Ero_the_Great_I



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 13:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3694694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ero_the_Great_I/pseuds/Ero_the_Great_I
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Meetings, taking place on the evening of Episode 2: Out of Time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Visits

**Author's Note:**

> And here's the sequel to 'Meetings', taking place after episode 2, so beware of spoilers anyone who hasn't played it yet. But then again, would you actually read a Marshfield story if you didn't?

**Visits**

 

She disliked hospitals.  
  
Ever since that day she had swallowed her Teddy’s eye, even though it was what bonded them forever, she harbored a big dislike for them. Not because she was afraid of the doctors or nurses or even the syringes (though she wasn't particularly fond of those either). No, it was because of the thought that in one or more of these rooms there were people that were dying that made her feel anxious and she would rather not take a step inside them if she could avoid it.  
  
But she couldn't avoid it. Not this time. It was too important. _She_ was too important.  
  
So Max found herself walking down the hallway the nurse had told her to go, but was also reminded that visiting hours would be over soon.   
  
It had been a hell of day, and she was exhausted from all the time rewinding and she still had a slight headache, too. On top of that, there was that scary as fuck eclipse earlier. But she needed to be here. Needed to make sure that Kate truly was alright. Let her know her words weren't just hollow promises.  
  
After her talk with Warren, Chloe and her had agreed to meet up and decided they would sneak into school tonight to find dirt on Nathan for what he did to Kate at that party. After she told her longtime friend about what Kate had told her, Chloe agreed that it had Nathan written all over it alright after what he had tried to pull on Chloe and that it was “time to bust his punk ass”, to put it into her words.  
  
The look in her eyes though told Max that Chloe was also hoping to find some hints regarding Rachel Amber's whereabouts, since it was well known that she was hanging with the Vortex Club, and Max couldn't fault her since she had found the invitation to the party that had taken place right before Rachel vanished back when they were at the junkyard.  
  
 _If it is connected, then someone is using the Vortex Club for some shady shit._ she thought and it pained her that sweet, friendly Kate Marsh had to be dragged into all this. Which brought her back to matters at hand. Chloe had driven her here and decided to wait outside, saying “Not gonna go into that fucking place even if it kills me”, while she would visit Kate.  
  
Max halted in front of the door of the room that she had been told Kate was in and gently knocked on the door before opening it slowly. She found her friend lying on the hospital bed, head turned towards the door upon hearing the knock, and she could see a small smile form on the girl's lips, and it made her feel warmth and pain at the same time seeing her like this.  
  
“Max, you came.” Kate said and sat up a little in her bed.  
  
“Of course. I told you I would come by as soon as possible.” Max closed the door behind her and walked over to the bed, taking one of the chairs by the wall and pulling it over so that she could sit down beside Kate. “I'm sorry it's taken me until now, I had to answer a bunch of questions to the police and then the principal wanted to see me as well. So I can't stay long. But I'll be coming by earlier tomorrow.”  
  
“It's alright.”  
  
“I see you already had some visitors.” Max nodded towards the balloons adorning the bed, one of them saying Get Well Soon.  
  
“Yeah. Alyssa and Stella came by. Dana came with Juliet, too. The balloons were her idea.” That made Max chuckle. Definitely sounded like Dana alright. Max turned to look directly at Kate. Gone was the tearstained make-up from earlier today, and the red in her eyes had subsided, but her mind still flashed back to that moment on the roof. How close she had come to losing her. She didn't regret hanging out with Chloe, but part of her mind wondered whether she could have prevented it from ever happening if she had just spend all of the morning with Kate.  
  
“How are you feeling now?” she asked, trying to avoid guilt-tripping herself.  
  
Kate closed her eyes for a moment and released a sigh. “I'd be lying if I said that everything was good, but I'm feeling a bit better. Your words and the realization that people do care if I’m dead or not have helped me. It won't make the video or what happened after the party disappear, but I feel like I can look at myself in the mirror again. Though I'd probably see how much like crap I'm currently looking.”  
  
“That's not true. Even without make-up you're pretty”, Max told her, making Kate flush a little bit and look down at her folded hands lying in her lap.  
  
“Thank you, Max. Thank you for saving me from myself.” Kate said, not looking at her. Max gently took a hold of one of Kate's hands and turned her head so that she was facing her again.  
  
“You were never alone, Kate. And I'm not going away. We'll get through this together”, she promised her. “And Nathan will pay for what he has done; I'm not going to stop until I can prove everything.”  
  
Kate's face brightened a fraction, but Max also saw worry in those green eyes. “Be careful, I don't want anything to happen to you just because of me.”  
  
“Don't worry. A friend of mine, Chloe Price, is going to help me. She sends her regards by the way”, Max said and saw a flicker of recognition in Kate’s eyes.  
  
“I know that name. She was friends with Rachel Amber. How do you know her?”  
  
“We...” Max bit her lip for a second. “Before I moved away she and I were best friends. We've recently met again. She also has some beef with Nathan, so she was eager to help.”  
  
“OK.” Kate's shoulder relaxed a little and a comfortable silence set in. They said nothing for a while, their hands never letting go of each other, until Max remembered something.  
  
“Oh yeah. I've taken little Bonnie in while you're away if that's alright. Put her cage besides Lisa.” She gave Kate a little wink. “I think she's already eyeballing some of her leaves.”  
  
“Thanks. I was worried after I forgot to mention it to Alyssa and Stella, but it seems you stepped in again like the guardian angel you are.” Just as the words had left her mouth, Kate's free hand flew up to her mouth. “Sorry.”  
  
“Don't be sorry. I think I like it”, Max said, rubbing the back of her neck. In truth she more than liked it if the rush that she was feeling right now was any indication. She had felt the same while they were walking arm in arm as they exited the dorm this morning.  
  
And she found herself wanting to feel it more often. “By the way, should I bring some of your things the next time I come by?”  
  
“Yeah”, Kate nodded and Max smiled at the cute blush on her cheeks.  “Could you bring me some spare clothes, my bible and some of my other books?”  
  
“Sure. Doesn't matter which ones?”  
  
“Not really, I wanted to re-read the lot of them anyway. You can also take the October Country. I don't need the notes anyway and you still haven't finished it yet, right?”   
  
“Yeah. And I really need to get Bradbury's books myself. Can't believe I don't own them already”, Max shrugged. “Maybe when this is all over we can go book shopping.”  
  
Kate gave her a fond look and squeezed her hand. “I'd like that...”  
  
They fell silent and Max found herself not being able to look away from Kate, the last rays of the setting sun illuminating her, making her look simply beautiful. Without realizing she had risen to her feet, her hand letting go of Kate's as she looked deeply into the her eyes, only now realizing just how green they were.  
  
Kate looked at her quizzically. But Max didn't utter a word; instead she cupped Kate's face and gingerly pressed a kiss on the lips she had always found so pretty since the day they had become friends. She felt hot, her heart was beating at hundreds of miles per second and her lips moved clumsily. There was a slight flare of panic sparking up inside her when Kate didn't do anything. But just when she was about to pull away, Kate extinguished it by slowly starting to respond in kind, her lips feeling a little rough due to a lack of care over the past days, but Max didn't mind.  
  
She let out a pleasant sound and leaned into Kate, moving one of her hands from her cheek and buried it in her hair, feeling the stress of the day wash away, the last bit of residual headache gone.  
  
How fucking stupid of her. It all made fucking sense now. The way her eyes would wander over Kate all the time, the warmth that she felt when Kate was happy, how her voice softened whenever she spoke with her, even the way she had written about and drawn her in her diary!  
  
She liked Kate Marsh. REALLY liked her. How hadn't she noticed before?  
  
And with the way Kate returned the kiss with equal fervor, her feelings weren't the least bit one-sided. She felt the other girl's arms circle her loosely, seeking closer contact. Encouraged by that, Max slowly trailed her left hand down Kate's body, brushing against curves that were always hidden from view. Max usually just caught glimpses of them when they passed each other in the showers; now that she got to touch them, she couldn't even comprehend how she didn't notice earlier how she felt. It was... exhilarating.  
  
And only when a soft moan passed Kate's lips, Max realized where they were.   
  
_Fuck!_  
  
Her eyes widened and she pushed herself away from Kate, stumbling out of her embrace and back into the chair.  
  
Kate herself could only look at Max with eyes wide open, shimmering with something that Max couldn't identify, her hand moving up to touch the lips that had been kissed a few seconds ago. Kissed by Max. On the day she had wanted to commit suicide because of a viral video of her kissing a lot of people. Oh crap, what had she done?   
  
“Max?” was all Kate managed to utter as Max lifted her hand and reverted time.  
  
 _Shit, Max. This-fuck! It's great that you finally realized you like her and she likes you back, maybe, but you really couldn't have picked a shittier time than today, could you?!_   she berated herself as she saw the scene unfold before her backwards. _Kate doesn't need this right now, doesn't need my feelings added on top of all her current problems._  
  
She reverted the time to just shortly before the kiss and was back in the chair, willing herself to be calm and looking down at their joined hands. _Be her friend, there's more important things do. When this is all over I can always ask her out._  
  
Looking back to Kate, who was none the wiser of what had just happened, she gave her hand a final squeeze. “I think I should go now. Don't want the nurse to kick me out. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon and I'll text you first thing in the morning. Promise.”  
  
“Get back home safely.” Kate gave her another smile that made Max feel all warm and tingly, the realization of her feelings not really helping. And as much as she just wanted to kiss her goodbye on the lips, Max settled for a friendly hug that Kate returned without hesitation, holding unto her just a little longer than usual.  
  
“I will, you just focus on getting some rest. Have sweet dreams.”  
  
“You know what, Max? I think I might just have”, Kate said and didn't take her eyes off Max.  
  
They exchanged their goodbyes and Max left the room, closing the door silently. She leaned against the door for a moment, let out a sigh, and headed down the hallway to leave the hospital.  
  
Why?  
  
Why now?  
  
Why couldn't she have realized sooner?  
  
 _If I had known I-maybe I could have kept her from going to that damn party._ But the truth was she most likely wouldn't. Even if she had known her feelings then, she never would have gotten off her ass about them, always wondering if Kate could possibly like her back.   
  
...She wished she could turn back time that far. But she couldn't. All she could do now was move forward, find out what was up with Nathan and the Vortex Club, and try to stop the tornado from happening or, if all else failed, warn everyone and get them all to safety.  
  
Max stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder into the direction of the room Kate was in. _If I really can't stop all this from happening, then I'll personally get you out of here._  
  
She wouldn't let anything else happen to her, would have her back, no matter what.   
  
That was a promise.  
  
To Kate, and to herself.


End file.
